Le Cuisine

For Kristin, wife, mother, dietician, who I once saw buying a cake mix at Harps (in full disclosure she won it playing the Harps game and she still had it 6 months later, but whatever, cake is loaded with sugar and she had it in her cart and I caught her. I think I even took a picture).
I know lots of folks have wondered (ok one person asked) after the market pictures what we eat in France. We dont eat goose head even tho half a Euro is a great price for them.
They have a lot of the same brands at the grocery stores here. They have lots of American cereals (Frosted Flakes, Cheerios, etc), Skippy peanut butter, Hunts ketchup I noticed today. They do have a lot more cheeses and meats available than at home. I have found a green called mache and it is yummy. I've never seen it at home before. Surprisingly, gluten-free is a thing here.
I still struggle with the meat. Partly because of the language barrier and how I don't know what the meat is and mostly because it grosses me out. I have trouble buying things to eat that are still alive. They clean fish right in front of you at the grocery store. I know its healthier and fresher, but I just prefer my rabbits to be gutted and skinned at the factory. Out of sight out of mind. Luckily Curtis lives for meat and meat alone so he is happy to pick it up.
The fruits and vegetables I buy mainly from the market, due to language barrier. You have to weigh your produce and tag it at the grocery store and I don't know how so I get it from the markets (like farmer's markets). I can do that and the salesperson rarely realizes I am not French. Just hand over your produce, read the price off the register and hand over your Euros (cash only, no cards).
Bread, oh my the bread! I buy this at the market because its the yummiest thing on Earth. I don't normally eat bread in Inola and when I do it's only 100% whole wheat that I make from scratch mostly, but the bread here is soooo yummy, especially if mixed with the butter. Oh the butter!!! It is soft and spreadable right out of the fridge. It is sadly the thing I believe I will miss most about France. I just learned the word for sliced (tranchee) and they slice the bread on little machines. You need to buy it daily so I literally think about bread most hours of the day. "How much bread do we have left? Do we have enough for dinner? Which market is open tomorrow?  Which bread do they have that we like (correct answer is all of them)." I buy so much butter that I literally have started buying it from multiple markets because I was embarassed for the butter guy to know how much butter we eat. Strangely, my pants felt too tight today.
Adjusting to French eating has been tough on me. I like to count things: calories, nutrients, portions, servings. The French approach to food (and everything else in that matter) is they just aren't worried about that. I can't find bread that is 100% whole wheat or pasta that has any whole wheat. They just dont worry about that stuff. I did find a baguette and she asked if I wanted white or brown and my kids started screaming "Miss Polly says brown!! Always eat brown bread!!!" So we did, of course. I saw a Weight Watchers the other day and they have Weight Watcher frozen meals at the grocery store,  although dieting doesn't seem to be the norm here. Yet Google tells me that the average French woman is 30 lbs lighter than the average American woman. But I feel very confident I could get as chunky as I wanted to in France. There is nutella everywhere for crying outloud! Yet their culture would make it a chore to be chubby. The vast majority of foos here is just plain old whole, real foods. Nit a lot of stuff comes in boxes (gas is expensive here so they eat locally). Another reason being that food isn't available all the time, and you have to walk to get it.  Restraunts are open during meal times. No more no less. Portion sizes are small. They do not walk around eating and drinking. Grocery stores don't have junk food at the check out. Today I accidentally stumbled upon a market that pops up one day a week near my gym (I got lost looking for the gym and never made it but I called it good since I walked for 2 hours searching) that was probably 1/4 a mile long that was nothing but produce, poultry, olives and nuts. Eating right is convenient (especially nice since French women work even more hours than American women do). How much better would I eat if the only food I passed all day fruits and veggies?  Business and schools shut down for 2 hours for lunch. Stores close in time for everyone to go home and eat dinner. People lose half of their income here to taxes and food is expensive so they consume wisely. Junk food is expensive here ($2 for a can of coke) but a loaf of bread at the market is $1. Enjoying their meals is obviously a priority for them.
So what we have been eating in France is a lot like what we eat at home, minus the whole grains. We really don't eat out much as a rule but when we do I will give a full report, of course. Everything has less sugar (the breads, the sauces, even the ketchup) and portion sizes are smaller (even a can of coke is 2 ozs less here than in the US). They do not appear to eat between meals and do not feed kids "kid food" or snacks. My kids had tabouli and zucchini with pork today for lunch at school (and ate it although I would have never thought they would). The French eat a lot of vegetables. To be honest I dont even know what to do with half the vegetables they sell here. How do I eat a beet or a fresh artichoke? What do I do with a passion fruit?
There are McDonalds, Subway and KFC here. I haven't been to any of them but Curtis went to the McDonalds (of course) and said it had a salad bar and was expensive.  He read somewhere that McDonalds sucessfully adapted itself to fit with French culture. I went to a McDonalds in Paris in 1999 and the burger had mayo and there was nude art on the walls. The KFC by the kids school is HUGE! We plan to go there to eat some day just to see what it is like.
There is a big Middle Eastern population here and their shops keep more American hours and so we ate there once because it was the only thing open (5pm on a Sunday) and I LOVE kebabs. Meat (I think lamb but I really don't know!) shredded over lettuce and tomatoes served with French fries. Although I don't eat mayo at home, French mayonnaise is second only to French butter on my list of favorites. French mayo and French fries together! Yum! Maybe I should find that gym tomorrow...
To sum up my review on French eating, for those of you who are still with me, I think the vast majority of French eat a much adventurous, varied and healthier diet than the US but I think some Americans (not me but definitely Kristin) eat much better than the average Frenchman. Their laid back and moderate approach is nothing like me but I think I could learn a few things from them. Most specifically, how do you make butter like that?